massive problem. and add in closed primaries, nominating contests open to only party members where the most reliable voters are ideologues, and who do they nominate? idealogically driven candidates who are then assured election in those noncompetitive districts. the polarized media is also a factor in so far as issues are presented in black and white terms and offered in short sound bites. and don't forget about the role of money. gone are the days when members truly lived in washington, d.c., moved their families with them, and socialized with one another. nowadays they're essentially at work just tuesday through thursday, with lots of recess. the rest of the time they're back at home raising money to spend in reelection campaigns, despite the near certainty that they will be reelected. no one-stop solution seems evident for this problem.

instead, each of the elements requires its own response. but don't wait for our politicians to provide any answer because one thing that our dysfunctional system excels at is rewarding those who are dependent upon it. that's "hardball" for now. thank you for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. john boehner is getting hammered by republicans for caving on tax increases and walking away from hurricane sandy relief. 2013 is starting with a bang. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> i will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2% of americans while preventing a middle class tax hike. >> the president gets his deal. but with the debt ceiling battle on the horizon, how long does the victory last? >> save your power for the debt ceiling fight. >> dnc chair debbie wasserman schultz will tell me where the democrats go from here. >> he got his tax increase, but he can't claim republican fingerprints on his tax increase. >> grover can't handle the truth. but his pledge is dead. and it's the end of an era for conservatives. tonight, karen finney and michael steele on the republican party in disarray. the keynote speaker at the republican convention destroys the republican congress. >> there is only one group to

blame, the house majority and their speaker, john boehner. >> congressman jerry nadler on the republican disgrace over sandy relief funds. and when should hillary clinton expect those apologies from fox news? >> hillary has severe benghazi allergy. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. it's a new year and a new deal there is still a big fight ahead, but 2013 started with a major victory for the white house. >> the motion is adopted without objection. a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> with 257 votes in the house of representatives, 85 of them coming from republicans, all to put a deal together to avoid the fiscal cliff. and yes, it was passed. there was compromise on both sides, both middle class americans went back to work today knowing their current tax rates are permanent. financial markets, they were all about it. the dow, the nasdaq, the s&p 500

all up big today. republican members of congress know the results of november's election haven't changed. >> the policy of where we were going to be if we didn't pass it or where we would be if we did. while it was like eating a you know what sandwich to vote for this, to me it was a rite of passage to this corridor. >> meantime, house democrats are taking time for a victory lap of sorts. >> at the end of the day, it was house democrats who injected some adult supervision, some pragmatism, a sense of compromise and solutions. that's what the country wants. it was house democrats who stopped us from going off this cliff. >> we even saw a tea party revolt end in failure. far right wingers in the house, the republicans were resigned to their fate after being told the compromise bill was going to go to the floor for a vote.

>> are you disappointed the way that this has happened? >> it is what it is. >> president obama and vice president biden negotiated this deal with america's middle class in mind. they could have allowed the country to go over the cliff. but the president was not willing to let struggling americans face the consequences of a new year without a deal. instead, this is what they achieved. >> under this law, more than 98% of americans and 97% of small businesses will not see their income taxes go up. millions of families will continue to receive tax credits to help raise their kids and send them to college. companies will continue to receive tax credits for the research that they do. the investments they make, and the clean energy jobs that they create. and two million americans who are out of work but out there looking, pounding the pavement every day are going to continue to receive unemployment benefits as long as they're actively looking for a job. >> so who would argue with that deal? i mean, in an era of unprecedented obstruction, filibusters galore, president obama, what has he done? he has gotten $620 billion in new revenue and no spending cuts. he also got more than 150

republicans to vote for taxes to go up on the middle class. no one is denying that there will be tough fights ahead. but the president defined the terms of battle going forward. >> cutting spending has to go hand in hand with further reforms to our tax code so that the wealthiest corporations and individuals can't take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren't available to most americans. >> this is a message to republican leadership. if they want spending cuts, they have to cough up some more revenue. one thing we do know. the president will not have john boehner as a negotiating partner anymore. the house speaker told his caucus that he will no longer negotiate one-on-one with the president of the united states. boehner isn't making too many democratic friends on the hill either. politico reports boehner told harry reid to go blank himself. part of the reason boehner is so testy is a fracture in his own

party's leadership. republican leader eric cantor broke ranks with the speaker when the deal came up for a vote. boehner and house budget chairman paul ryan voted for the bill, while cantor and house whip kevin mccarthy voted against it. what does that tell you? president obama needs to move forward with plans to avoid the next fiscal crisis, the debt ceiling. he is not worried about engaging with a fractured gop. the president is going right back to you, the american people. the white house getting after it. put on their website, publishing the facts sheet. what this tax deal is all about. the details were shared on the president's massive e-mail list. the white house also released a video where the president explained his strategy of tax cuts and deficit reduction. >> so instead we're solving this problem in several steps. last year we started reducing

the deficit through $1 trillion in spending cuts. and the agreement we reached this week will reduce the deficit even more by asking the wealthiest 2% of americans to pay higher taxes for the first time in two decades. so that's progress. >> president obama handled this showdown much the same way he handled other standoffs in his presidency. he knows that progress comes step by step, not all at once. here is one major step. remember the bush tax cuts? they're all gone. they expired on the last day of 2012. the tax rates passed last night, these are now the obama tax cuts. the difference between the obama tax cuts and the bush tax cuts, well, these are permanent. that means a lot. president obama and democrats accomplished these rates by getting republicans to vote for tax increases on the wealthiest americans for the first time in 22 years. 1990 was the last time any republicans joined with

democrats to raise taxes. the president could have gone off the cliff and got more of what he wanted. instead he delivered for the middle class, as promised on the campaign trail. the pressures on the middle class in this country are far greater today than they were ten years ago. since 2001, the middle income tier has shrunk by 5%. the net worth of middle class families is down 28%. hold it right there. think about where have your health care costs gone in the last ten years. gasoline ten years ago was a buck 40 a gallon. where is it now? well over 3. would you like to have a buck 40 a gallon? the economy has changed a lot. whether there had been the bush tax cuts or not, this president would have been on the front lines saying we need to give relief to the middle class, and that's what this was all about. the tax deal was struck with these folks in mind. the 2012 election was about income inequality and tax

fairness. we got closer to achieving both things last night. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, the fiscal cliff deal a victory for the middle class? text a for yes. text b for now to 622639. you can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring the results later on in the show. joining me tonight is debbie wasserman schultz of florida, chairwoman of the democratic national committee. congresswoman, good to have you with us tonight. congratulations. >> thanks for having me, thanks very much. >> i want to put for our viewers tonight in perspective just how big 39.6% is. a little history to this. this was passed in 1993. and the deciding vote was done by a congressional member from the pennsylvania 13th district. mezvinsky, marjorie margolies mezvinsky. she served one term from '93-'95. it was al gore who passed the deciding vote in the senate.

last night you got 257 votes to raise taxes and get it back to 39.6%. that's how big a lift this was and what a big accomplishment it was. now congresswoman, what is the next step? >> it really can't be understated how significant this was. what this is, though, and it certainly a significant accomplishment that we were able to make sure that the wealthiest americans pay a little bit more, pay their fair share. that's what we argued throughout the whole campaign was that everybody needs a fair shot, a fair shake, and everybody has to pay their fair share. what this bill does is it makes sure that we give a big gift-wrapped package of certainty to the middle class. not just because we made sure that middle class taxes didn't go up, but that we also made sure we extended the american opportunity tax credit, which will allow more young people the opportunity to go to college. we extended the child tax

credit, which makes sure that people can have more money in their pocket when they have children and pay those expenses. we made sure that we permanently fixed the alternative minimum tax, which was getting ready each year to nail a huge number of middle class folks -- >> all good stuff. >> -- the tax was never intended to pay for, and we extended unemployment benefits for two million people for another year. that was a really, really big deal. >> that's without offsets. >> yes. >> that's without offsets. now, you got to get more revenue. >> we do. >> where are you going to get it? where are you going to go to get more revenue? >> as president obama said last night, we've got to go to the tax code. we've got to sit down. and any -- the next step of reform is in focusing on deficit reduction is going to have to be balanced. i've heard a lot of republicans say all day today in interviews

that, okay, now we're done with taxes. we're done with revenue, and we can focus on spending cuts. the american people have made it very clear that they want a balanced approach. >> but are you saying that you're not done with taxes? >> we are absolutely not done with making sure that any deficit reduction has revenue and spending cuts. and we'll also need to look at entitlement reform. president obama knows and has proposed in his grand bargain $4 trillion deal, remember, he proposed another $360 billion in savings for entitlement programs, which we'll have an opportunity to look at as well. >> congresswoman, can you tell us tonight where you can go to get revenue? i'm talking about -- are we talking about a transaction tax on wall street, something like that? >> no. we have to take a look -- we've talked for a long time about finally reforming the tax code there are so many loopholes in

the tax code that really also skew towards the wealthiest americans that ultimately if we're able the close those, we can make sure that when we do enact important spending cuts, that all that pain is not balanced on the backs of the middle class. >> that's not the tax reform the republicans were looking for, is it? >> the republicans have said -- look, mitt romney himself campaigned on reforming the tax code. and a lot of my republican colleagues have said we need to take a look at that on the senate and the house side. but it just needs to be clear that just because we had an increase in the tax rate for the top earners to 39.6%, that does not mean -- >> sure. >> -- that revenue is off the table for the future. >> here is what the president said last night about medicare. it caught a lot of people's attention. here it is. >> i agree with democrats and republicans that the aging

population and the rising cost of health care makes medicare the biggest contributor to our deficit. i believe we've got to find ways to reform that program without hurting seniors who depend on it to survive. >> that scares a lot of liberals in this country right now. what do you mean by draw the line? where do you draw the line on cuts to the big three? >> i think the president is absolutely right. we do need to add savings to medicare so that we can make sure we preserve it for the long-term. we were able to do that with $760 billion in savings in the affordable care act. and that added eight years of sol venice it is. and the president proposed $360 billion in savings in the $4 trillion grand bargain that he put on the table. so we know there is more savings that can be wrung out of medicare, and we're going to back and make sure we take a look at that. and democrats i think will support a lot of those savings. but we're going to do it so we make sure it we don't do it at the expense of our seniors and enact harmful cuts that would hurt them. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz on "the ed show" tonight, thank you so much. it is a big victory for the democrats and the country. remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts with us on twitter at ed show and facebook. we want to know what you think. coming up, the next big fight is just around the corner. does president obama still have leverage going into the debt ceiling battle? michael steele and karen finney will join me for that discussion. stay with us. house members from both sides of the aisle are outraged after speaker john boehner holds up hurricane sandy relief. and new jersey governor chris christie has some h for house republicans. we'll have all th

house members from both sides of the aisle are outraged after speaker john boehner holds up hurricane sandy relief. and new jersey governor chris christie has some harsh words for house republicans. we'll have all the reaction coming up. and as students in newtown prepare to return to class, president obama keeps the focus on gun legislation. sam stein of "the huffington post" will join me for the latest on that. and you can listen to my radio show on sirius xf radio monday through friday, noon to

3:00 p.m. share your thoughts on facebook and twitter using the #edshow. good to be back with you. we're coming right back.

welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. we now know the house republican caucus can be divided against itself and its leadership can be split right down the middle. republicans are reeling and conservatives are moaning. >> look, there are a lot of conservatives in the caucus, republican caucus in the house who hate the bill, and for good reason. i mean, this is a complete surrender on everything. so, i mean, it's a complete rout by the democrats. so it's understandable. >> he has been using this, and i

must say with great skill and ruthless skill and success to fracture and basically shatter the republican opposition. >> you could come to the conclusion grover norquist is history, even though he is doing his very best to explain away the vote. >> what happened yesterday was that all the tax rates went up, and then the republicans and the congress together took them down for some people, not for everybody. >> republicans in the house who supported the bill are saying they can now focus on spending cuts, and only spending cuts. here is dave camp, republican of michigan. >> so this is a first step, permanent tax policy that then sets the stage for comprehensive and fundamental tax reform, and then addressing out-of-control spending. >> republicans are eager to get their revenge by tying the spending cuts to the debt ceiling debate as they did last year. here is senator pat toomey of pennsylvania. >> we republicans need to be willing to tolerate a temporary

partial government shutdown which is what that could mean, a temporary disruption because we have to furlough the workers of the department of education or close down some national parks or not cut the grass on the mall. you know, that's not optimal. it's disruptive, but it's a hell of a lot better than the path that we're on. >> senator toomey wants to pretend only a government shutdown would occur if the debt ceiling isn't raised. it's far worse, and president obama has vowed not let republicans use this tactic again. >> while i will negotiate over many things, i will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they have already wracked up through the laws they already passed. >> all right. so the line in the sand is drawn. let's turn to karen finney, msnbc contributor, former dnc communications director. and also with us tonight michael steele, former rnc chairman and an msnbc contributor.

great to have both of you with us. michael, you first. going forward, the line in the sand is set. how is president obama going to keep the budget cut negotiations separate from any kind of debt ceiling vote? your thoughts. >> that's a very good question, ed. and i think that's one of the challenges the president is actually going to face. so i appreciate his comment when he said i will no longer negotiate with this congress. he is right. this congress is over. a new congress comes in tomorrow, augmented, mind you, with ten new, you know, a majority of 10 in the senate for democrats, an additional eight democrat house members. so there is a little bit more there for him to work with in that regard. but i think it's going to be very tough because at some point you're going to have to address the spending side. even the president himself, ed, as you have talked about before, has put some things on the table, on the spending side that have made your stomach turn.

that's going to be a part of this conversation going forward. and the republicans rightly or wrongly right now believe in the heat of this battle that this approach of tieing this to the deficit is discussions is going to work. i don't know. i think we need to be smart. i think we need to be careful. and we got to have a message, ed, that really people understand and they can get behind. if not, they'll get jobbed again as they got jobbed on this one. >> go ahead, karen. >> michael, if your party thinks that threatening to shut down the government is a good strategy, then, you know what? now we understand all the more why y'all thought when you were looking at the numbers that mitt romney was going to be president. i mean, come on. threatening to shut down the government. it's not just about the grass not being mowed on the national lawn. i was in the government during the clinton administration when the government was shut down.

and there was real pain for real people when that happens. i do not think that that is a smart strategy. i also think that what republicans continue to misunderstood is basic math. and that is that the middle class in this country, and you talk about this all the time, they've already been paying more than their fair share. so when we go back to this conversation, when we talk about fairness, they are crazy to think that as, you know, debbie wasserman schultz pointed out, of course both sides of the equation have to be on the table. >> no one on the democratic side is saying that shutting down the government is the way to go, okay, and the president is not going to go down that road. >> of course. >> but michael, why would the democrats -- or why would the republicans go down that road when they know if it did happen, it would have a global effect? >> that's my point, ed. i'm not taking issue with what karen just said. i agree with that. that's why i'm saying if this is

the strategy, then you better have a damn good plan b, c, and d to go with it. because the fact of the matter is this is not necessarily the first card you want to play, i think, coming out of this particular issue. >> here is more from grover norquist, which i find very interesting. very humiliating day for him. >> a fight in how to rein in president obama's spending. the republicans have three points. the president has none. >> really? does grover norquist have any credibility left at this point? is he a guy that can twist arms and threaten people and still be effective the way he has been in the past? >> no. let's be very clear what this little tour from grover norquist is about. this is a cry for relevance. that is the only thing we should be seeing in what he is saying. he is trying to prove that he is still relevant. remember, three weeks ago he was singing a dramatically different tune. now he's got even as andrea mitchell pointed out, some kind

of alice in wonderland fantasy land about how voting to increase is really voting to decrease. it just doesn't hold water anymore. part of the power of grover norquist is his close relationship with karl rove. karl rove has also been crippled over the past year in the process. so the two of them are not so scary anymore. >> what i found absent from his conversation today was 39.6%. why wasn't he saying this is going to be a job killer? why wasn't he saying -- >> right. >> -- he can't raise taxes on the job creators? it's like he's got to find a new set of bullet points here. >> well, i think some of that is true. and i think the reality for a lot of republicans and conservatives around the country is how do we now move forward from this particular situation? you've seen the splittage, as you led into this segment with the split in the house among the republican leadership, not just the rank and file. the grassroots as i've noticed today on the blogs and on

twitter were fired up on this. this is mcconnell's tax increase. so you've got this fracture right now. and the leadership has got to pull itself together with a cogent coherent message about how we move forward. and i think spending should be a big part of the discussion as we go into the next two months because as we know, there is already some agreement on some of those things we should be talking about on the spending side. >> you know what, michael? i think you have a more fundamental problem in terms just an overall lack of vision from your party.

and then we'll talk to and we are back. last night in the house, the fiscal cliff fight just ended. the show was far from over. the next order of business a vote $60 billion in federal relief for victims of hurricane sandy. now who in the world would be against this? the aid package had already passed the senate, yet at the last minute, that relief was abruptly put on hold. >> the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. >> those opposed say no. >> no! >> in the opinion of the share, the ayes have it. the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning for morning debate. >> mr. speaker? >> we're adjourned.

>> it's been over two months since this hurricane struck. businesses have been wiped out. homes have been destroyed. thousands of lives are still hanging in the balance. a lot of displaced people. and as several lawmakers have pointed out today, victims of other major disasters like katrina didn't have to wait as long for aid to come to them. despite all of that, what is at stake, here we go with house speaker john boehner deciding the house should not take another vote following the fiscal cliff fight last night. the move left lawmakers from new york, new jersey just absolutely stunned and outraged. >> to ignore the plight of millions of american citizens, unprecedented, disgusting, unworthy of the leadership of this house. >> i'm usually proud of this house. tonight i am ashamed. shame on you, mr. speaker. >> this is time to stop debating and take the gloves off, jersey style. >> will our government help us? where are you? mr. speaker, we need leadership.

come walk with me, mr. speaker. come walk with me and see the american people that are suffering. [ applause ] >> and that's just what democrats had to say. republican lawmakers also took aim at their party's leadership. >> everybody played by the rules except tonight when the rug was pulled out from under us. absolutely inexcusable. absolutely indefensible. we have a moral obligation to hold this vote. >> i think it's inexcusable that we did not have this vote. >> the federal government doesn't have a role in this? absurd, absolutely absurd. we demand nothing less than we have given the rest of the country. an emergency and disaster means emergency and disaster. congressman peter king, a boehner ally, went even further telling folks to stop donating to the house gop. >> i'm saying anyone from new york and new jersey who contributes one penny to the republican congressional campaign committee should have their head examined. i would not give one penny to

these people based on what they did to us last night. >> this afternoon president obama released a statement urging the house to pass the aid package immediately. he also phoned governors from new york andrew cuomo and also governor chris christie from new jersey a short time later. christie came out swinging. >> this is good enough for 62 united states senators from both parties to vote for this package. this was good enough for a majority of the house of representatives. it overcame all the factual challenges. it just could not overcome the toxic internal politics of the house majority. >> oh, he is not done. >> christie was just getting warmed up. >> americans are tired of the palace intrigue and political partisanship of this congress. new jerseyans and new yorkers are tired of being treated like second class citizens. 66 days and counting. shame on you. shame on congress. this used to be something that was not political. you know, disaster relief was

something that you didn't play games with. but now in this current atmosphere, everything is the subject of one-upsmanship. everything is a possibility, a potential piece of bait for the political game. and it's just -- it is why the american people hate congress. >> christie told reporters he spent the new year's holiday whipping votes for relief package. the governor says he was told late last night there would be no vote, and puts the blame on boehner. >> i was given no explanation. i was called at 11:20 last night by leader cantor and told authority for the vote was pulled by the speaker. i called the speaker four times last night after 11:20, and he did not take my calls. so you have to ask the speaker. >> shortly after that public drubbing, boehner met with northeast lawmakers and promised a vote for this friday for $9 billion in flooding aid. boehner also offered a vote in two weeks for another $51 billion in aid. republican lawmakers who had

questioned boehner's leadership just hours earlier now claim that they are satisfied. >> a lot has changed. the bottom line is that we now received what we asked for. and as far as i'm concerned, what is done is done. >> coming up, the one congressman whose constituents got the shaft from house republicans last night. that they are satisfied. >> a lot has changed. the bottom line is that we now received what we asked for. and as far as i'm concerned, what is done is done. >> coming up, the one congressman whose constituents got the shaft from house republicans last night. congressman jerrold nadler is ahead, and there is a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay right with us. >> did she really is a concussion? >> hillary clinton continues to get treatment for a blood clot. and she continues to get trashed by righties.

>> when you don't want to go to a meeting or a conference or an event, you have a diplomatic illness. and this is a diplomatic illness. >> i'm not a doctor, but it seems as though the secretary of state has come down with a case of benghazi flu. >> we'll bring you the latest on the secretary of state. and sandy hook elementary students begin their return to school as the president refuses to let gun control fall out of focus. sam stein updates us on where congress stands in their fight against the nra.

governor cuomo and i are as frustrated as two people can be, because unlike people in congress we have actual responsibilities. >> welcome back to "the ed show." 66 days after hurricane sandy devastated communities along the east coast, republicans in congress are delaying a critical

disaster relief package. the house, as we told you, was expected to hold a vote on the $660.4 billion bill, but the house speaker pulled the bill from consideration. a remaining $51 billion in aid will get a vote on january 15th. their delay on the hurricane sandy disaster relief package rightfully has members of both parties furious. for more, let's turn to new york congressman jerrold nadler. congressman, good to have you with us tonight. >> good to be here. >> you know, we're not talking about the middle of the country. we're talking about where there is a lot of media, there is millions of people, and yet relief is not on the way. why is that? >> well, we don't really know why it is. and people have raised that question. you know, after hurricane katrina, $64 billion was voted within ten days. here it is 66 days later. not a nickel has been voted. a lot of the republicans seem very reluctant to vote any money, and certainly enough. $60 billion is the necessity has

been very well documented by governors christie. >> so the politics of this pretty inconvenient. with the backdrop of too much spending in washington and the republicans trying to fight the president on the most recent fiscal cliff, this was just pretty inconvenient and they didn't give a damn about the people. i mean, that's my read on it. what about yours? >> i think that is true to some extent. but it's even worse because they had to separate the bill into two bills, $27 billion, and hopefully $33 billion extra on the assumption that most of the republicans wouldn't vote for the full amount that we need. that has never been the case where you nickel and dime people in desperate straits because of a natural disaster before. >> will there be enough votes for this? will you get the votes to get the $60 billion in aid to do right by these americans? >> i think the votes will be there now. but you know, because the

speaker pulled the bill last night, and we're not going to get a vote in the house now, partially tomorrow, but partially not until january 15th, assuming he is as good as his word, the senate has to do it all over again. they already passed it. they've got to do it all over again. and that is totally -- it's just more weeks of agony for small business people whose businesses may go under because they don't get aid in time, for people who can't start rebuilding their houses that. >> is the key. that is the key. there is going to be a lot -- and i've covered disasters in the midwest. businesses close and they don't reopen. and it hurts a lot of people. timing is of the essence right now. and of course governor christie commented today on new jersey giving more taxes back than getting from the federal government, which i think is a very profound point. here it is. >> new jersey and new york are among the most generous states in the nation to our fellow

states. we vote for disaster relief for other states in need. we are donor states. sending much more to washington, d.c. than we ever get back in spending. >> should that matter, congressman? >> only in the sense it shows the inequity of what happens. senior moynihan used to maintain an annual list that showed we sent 18 or $19 billion more to washington than we get back. we're lucky to have the industry and the tax revenue and enough upper income people to do that. we should spend money where it's needed and raise it where you can equitably. so that never bothered me. but if when we need it, the rest of the country says you can't have the money, we're going to treat you differently than everybody else, then it raises real questions. >> you've got a lot of americans displaced on the east coast because of this. is this government, is this congress, is this the u.s. at its worst hour of sorts? >> well, it's at a very bad hour. i don't know that i want to say

its worst hour. it's a very bad hour. when you nickel and dime people in desperate straits, americans in desperate straits, you don't send help, it's been 66 days and a lot of people in congress, republicans won't vote adequate funds, and then they put it off for no reason at all. and the contempt with which the speaker did it, giving no reason. we were told 20 minutes before to expect the vote, and all of the sudden it's not going to happen, and no reason given, and he won't even talk to republicans from new york and new jersey. >> is this how boehner operates? listening to chris christie, is this how he operates? >> i haven't seen that before. but he wouldn't call the governor back. he refused to meet with the republican congressman from new york. he wouldn't talk to any of them or anybody else. >> he operates like that, i think it gives us a pretty good insight about what kind of a tough customer he was to deal with in negotiations with the

white house. >> that's probably true. >> i would draw that conclusion. congressman gerald nadler, great to have you with us tonight. i hope it all works out. people need the help. coming up, the latest on secretary of state hillary clinton's condition, and a look at fox news' shameless conspiracy theory about her health.

and we always love hearing from our viewers on twitter and our facebook page. many of you are talking about the scathing criticism of speaker john boehner following republicans like new jersey governor chris christie for holding up relief for victims of hurricane sandy. john cobb invites christie to come over to the left. plenty of room for you, and we care. james says he's ashamed to call himself a republican after sandy. and april anderson calls it the inevitable cannibalization of the gop. keep sharing your thoughts with us on our facebook and use the #edshow on twitter. as washington looks to change the laws on assault weapons in the wake of the newtown shootings, some states are taking school security tips from the national rifle association? details ahead.

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and we are back. and there is some good news to report tonight. secretary of state hillary clinton has been discharged from the new york presbyterian hospital. clinton was admitted sunday after doctors discovered a blood clot near her brain stemming from a concussion she suffered earlier in december. doctors are treating the clot with blood thinners and say clinton is making good progress. they're confident she'll make full recovery. serious stuff. you know who didn't take it seriously? the fair and balanced folks over at fox news. the fox lineup spent the last two weeks suggesting that the secretary of state faked her fall to avoid testifying about the attack in benghazi. just like most conservative conspiracy theories, there was absolutely no evidence to support their claim. but that didn't stop fox from politicizing clinton's illness and having a few laughs at her

expense. >> when you don't want to go to a meeting or a conference or an event, you have a diplomatic illness. and this is a diplomatic illness to beat the ban. >> a good line. hillary has severe benghazi allergy. >> yeah, i've been doing a lot of work on that, investigating. she is the first reported the case, and it's a very, very severe one. >> very, very severe. let's see the medical report on that. >> i'm not a doctor, but it seems as though the secretary of state has come down with a case of benghazi flu. >> a concussion because if a tree falls in the forest, does it really fall if nobody hears it fall? did she really have a concussion? >> how can she get a concussion when she has been ducking everything? this is what i don't understand. >> suddenly, everyone on fox news is a doctor. hillary clinton has served this country as first lady, as a senator from new york and the secretary of state. i don't expect much from fox

news. i wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an apology that clinton certainly deserves. but i do expect a bit more respect for a woman who has served this country for 20 years. laura ingraham, so unlike you. tonight in our survey, i asked you, is the fiscal cliff deal a victory for the middle class? 82% say yes. 18% of you say no. coming up, it looked like a victory for the nra. hundreds of teachers took a weapons training class over the holiday break. find out where the debate over gun control stands tonight. stay with us. she keeps you guessing. it's part of what you love about her. but your erectile dysfunction - you know, that could be a question of blood flow.

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and we're finishing the show tonight with a promise. we won't let the debate over gun control get lost in the political shuffle. children who survived the massacre at sandy hook elementary are going back to school tomorrow morning. security is incredibly tight. police set up checkpoints for an open house today. crews have transformed chalk hill middle school into a replica of sandy hook. they've moved the kids' old desks and art and backpacks. the armed officers will be stationed on campus. >> our goal is to make it a safe and secure learning environment for these kids to return to, along with the teachers also. >> it's been 20 days since adam lanza murdered 20 first graders. we've seen 20 days of intense debate over gun control. so far the national rifle association has made major headway. nra president wayne lapierre offered to post an armed nra member inside every school in

america. the idea was widely criticized. just a few days after christmas, hundreds of teachers attended the nra's free weapons training course in utah. this is a fourth grade teacher learning how to use a handgun. this is another fourth grade teacher practicing with a plastic gun. gun clubs in arizona and ohio claim they've been getting flooded with applications from teachers who want gun training. the nra has moved quickly, but president obama is steadfast. he repeated his commitment to stopping gun violence during the news conference last night. california senator dianne feinstein is introducing an assault weapons ban on the first day of the new session. the gun debate comes down to this. the nra is arming teachers. the democrats need the political will to fight back. let's turn to sam stein, political reporter "huffington post," with us here tonight. sam, they never cease to amaze us. can democrats pass an assault weapons ban despite the national

rifle association? has the political climate changed in this debate? >> i don't think enough. now, of course, things can change. you can make -- you can make a case, you can start a grassroots campaign, you can build a movement around a piece of legislation. but if you look at the political numbers on the hill, you would have to conclude at this juncture that it's going to be a really heavy lift for reporters of the assault weapons ban. i think that's part of the reason you see some other lawmakers looking at other slimmer measures such as a ban on high capacity magazines, which will also be introduced on the first day of congress. >> today a town in new jersey posted armed officers at all of its schools for the next 90 days. marlboro township says it's discussing permanent security changes. your thoughts. >> well, i mean we live in a society, in a culture that, you know, loves guns. and i think it's sort of evidenced in the fact that sales of assault weapons were

apparently off the charts in the aftermath of the shooting at sandy hook. and this has been the case almost every time that we've had an instance of mass gun violence whereby people think that the natural response is for the government to go and get guns already out there. and so a colleague and i went to a gun show, for instance, after the shooting in aurora, and we saw a similar thing where people were buying high capacity magazines because they assumed the government would crack down on it. so it doesn't surprise me necessarily that people are doing this and turning to this. they want a sense of security, and having an armed weapon gives them that sense of security. >> i mean, we're seeing the national rifle association move fast on this. have they outmaneuvered the democrats? >> well, there has always been a concern that if you wait too long, not only would the nra move fast, and other people who are second amendment enthusiasts, but that the public

conscience would fade away, the desire to see some sort of legislative action. the good news is i've had conversations with people on the hill, including in the administration. and they are committed to doing gun control. and not only that, one administration official told me they want to do it in the month of january. so they recognize that the window, the legislative window here is relatively narrow, and that it could be closing on them. and so they recognize that they have to move fast. but it is in some respects a race against -- a race against the clock. >> okay. sam stein, good to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> appreciate your time so much. you bet. on a much lighter note tonight, this was the last sunrise of 2012 on big detroit lake in northern minnesota. this is a very rare occurrence. it is a double sun dog. that is the sun rising, and those are the two sun dog effects off to the side. that was a pic i